The Johnson & Wales University men’s basketball team posted a 74-63 victory against Albertus Magnus in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference contest at the Harborside RAC on Saturday afternoon.
Junior Brian Fernandes (Fall River, Mass.) led the way for Johnson & Wales with 22 points and four rebounds while sophomore Tirone McCray (Brockton, Mass.) added a double-double with 14 points and 11 boards in the victory. Senior Brian Bannister (Boston, Mass.) and freshman Justin Adams (Providence, R.I.) each were in double figures with 15 and 14 points respectively for the Wildcats. Leading the way for Albertus Magnus was freshman Shawn Mendenhall (Bridgeport, Conn.) with 16 points while John Donahue (Southington, Conn.) added 13 points and five rebounds in the setback.
Johnson & Wales jumped out to an early 13-6 lead, capped by a layup by Fernandes at 15:33. Albertus Magnus would respond and held the lead midway through the first half when a free throw by junior Bill Rose (Guilford, Conn. ) gave the team a 19-18 lead. The Wildcats then used a 17-6 run and took their largest lead of the game on a pair free throws by Fernandes, giving the team a 35-25 advantage with 4:23 left in the half. JWU would take a the 44-35 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Albertus Magnus chipped away at the lead in the early stages of the second half and came within four points several times, trailing just 61-57 after a free throw by Mendenhall with 5:36 left in the game. That would be as close as the Falcons would get, however as the Wildcats used an 11-1 run over the next two minutes en route to the 74-63 victory.
With the win Johnson & Wales improves to 11-12 on the season, 9-7 in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference while Albertus Magnus falls to 2-19, 2-14 in league play. The Wildcats will return to action on Thursday, February 16th when they host Western New England in a GNAC contest at 7:00 p.m.
www.JWU.edu/prov/athletics
For more information, contact Dan Booth (401) 598-1632 or (401) 338-4093